from David Pollak of the Mercury News

Conventional wisdom says the trades you don't make often are the ones that work out best. If the Sharks do make the playoffs this season, they may point to goaltender Antti Niemi as the latest example of that.

Niemi's name was circulating as one of several pending unrestricted free agents that Sharks general manager Doug Wilson was open to trading before the March 2 deadline. For whatever reason — maybe the return would not have been high enough, maybe Niemi was taken off the market — that did not happen.

Now, after his 39-save performance in San Jose's 2-1 shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, Niemi acknowledged Tuesday that there may have been a minor change in his mindset once the deadline passed.

"It's hard to try not to think about it," said Niemi, who stopped seven of eight Pittsburgh shots in the shootout as well. "You still hear, especially from you guys (media), you hear the rumors. I don't think I thought about it too much, but of course it's gone now, so there's nothing to think about anymore."

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